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Undergraduate Honors Theses
5-2011
Creating Gender in Disney/Pixar's WALL-E.
Brittany Long
East Tennessee State University
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Long, Brittany, "Creating Gender in Disney/Pixar's WALL-E." (2011). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 149. http://dc.etsu.edu/
honors/149
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Creating Gender in Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of Honors
By
Brittany Agnes-Marie Long
The Honors College
Midway Honors Program
East Tennessee State University
April 15, 2011
C. Wesley Buerkle, Faculty Mentor
Table of Content
Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review......................3
Chapter 2: Method………………………………………….15
Chapter 3: Gender in WALL-E……………………………...20
Chapter 4: Conclusion………………………………………33
Works Cited………………………………………………...35
Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review
As technology advances, so does the possibility of one day living in a world such as that
portrayed on The Jetsons, with robots completing chores and people traveling to work in flying
cars. The Jetsons have their faithful robot Rosie. Rosie may be a robot that technically has no
gender, but she often displays feminine qualities. Rosie’s outfit consists of a maid’s uniform with
bolts that resemble earrings and wheels that resemble high heels. Rosie also depicts a stereotypical
feminine voice characterized by a softer and higher pitch than males. Not only does Rosie
physically portray feminine qualities, she also performs what society considers traditional
feminine roles such as cooking in the kitchen, doing laundry, taking care of the children, and
performing other domestic activities. In a commercial that has aired in the past decade, Rosie
advertises dishwashing detergent. Rosie is not just a robot; she is a part of the Jetsons’ family.
Anthropomorphizing, or assigning human characteristics to an inanimate object, helps to achieve
this connection. Through being anthropomorphized, Rosie’s gender is created.
Decades after The Jetsons aired on television, Disney/Pixar released the movie WALL-E.
This movie follows the adventures of two robots, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Lift Loader, EarthClass) and EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), who are trying to save Earth. As with
Rosie in The Jetsons, WALL-E and EVE are anthropomorphized and assigned gender, when in
fact they are gender-neutral, inanimate objects. Despite the fact that WALL-E and EVE are
suppose to be gender-neutral due to the absence of a biological sex, Disney/Pixar creates a
masculine gender identity for WALL-E and a feminine gender identity for EVE. The imposition
of gender where none exists makes WALL-E the perfect Disney/Pixar movie to analyze for gender
portrayal. As an audience, we expect gender to be created for characters who are biologically
male or female, but Disney/Pixar started with a tabula rasa, or a clean slate, when creating the
characters of WALL-E and EVE. In spite of this clean slate, they still felt the need to create
gender for both robots.
Understanding how Disney/Pixar creates gender in WALL-E is significant because media
is a common tool for the education for children. As a result, children are learning about society’s
expectations for masculinity and femininity from media representations. Therefore, it is essential
that we understand the messages that are being communicated to society’s youth.
Anthropomorphism plays a part in the reinforcement of these expectations due to the fact that
anthropomorphism of inanimate objects helps to create a closer bond between the object and the
child consuming the media.
In this thesis I will look at Disney/Pixar’s creation and portrayal of gender in the film
WALL-E. In particular I will be looking at two areas of interest: (1) The ways in which Disney/
Pixar anthropomorphizes and creates gender for WALL-E and EVE, the two main robots featured
in the movie, and (2) whether or not Disney/Pixar’s representations of masculinity and femininity
follow the stereotypical representations of male dominance or if this representations challenge this
stereotype. In this chapter, I will begin with a brief overview of previous studies in the areas of
anthropomorphism, gender representation in children’s media, and the effects of gender portrayal
in children’s media. In Chapter 2 I will then move into a description of feminist criticism, the
method by which I plan to analyze WALL-E. In Chapter 3, my analysis will be looking at
Disney/Pixar’s creation of gender for WALL-E and EVE, the degree of male centeredness and
male dominance present in WALL-E, and the ways in which females are marginalized and
femininity is portrayed as non-normative.
Anthropomorphism
Like The Jetsons, WALL-E illustrates how anthropomorphism can be used to create gender
for gender-neutral, inanimate objects that should not be able to depict gender due to the absence of
sex. This assigning of gender to gender-neutral objects illustrates society’s need to assign gender
to everything. Previous research on anthropomorphism finds that children are learning to
anthropomorphize inanimate objects through interactions with educators in the classroom, from
their textbooks, and from other media that they encounter on a daily basis. Researchers have
concluded that in the absence of sex, gender stereotypes are often used to create the perception of
gender for nonhuman entities.
Katherine Bumby and Kerstin Dautenhahn analyze children’s interactions with and
responses to robots, finding that child often assign human characteristics to the robots. Bumby
and Dautenhahn find in the first part of their study that children are likely to assign human
features to robots when they are asked to draw a picture of what they believe a robot might look
like. This is also the case when Bumby and Dautenhahn instruct the children to write a story about
the robot they had previously drawn. During interactions with an actual robot, children are likely
to assign free will to the robot by using phrases such as, “Come to me!”
Bumby and Dautenhahn’s conclusion that children often assign human characteristics to
robots, suggests that children have to be learning this process somewhere. Children are being
taught this process of anthropomorphism from several sources, including movies such as WALL-
E. Teachers are even exposing children to the anthropomorphic speech in the classroom. Susan
Thulin and Niklas Pramling find that of 128 instances of anthropomorphic speech in a preschool
science setting, 104 were made by the teachers. Based on these numbers, Thulin and Pramiling
suggest that anthropomorphic speech acts as strategy for connecting with children’s experiences
in order to help them develop an understanding of new concepts and ideas, which would explain
the use of anthropomorphic speech in the classroom.
While the research suggests that anthropomorphic speech can aid in children’s learning, it
can also be problematic. Gender stereotypes, such as the aggressive and competitive male and the
domestic and maternal female, are often used to create the perception of gender for nonhuman
entities that are absent of gender. For example, Emily Martin addresses how science textbooks
talk about reproduction, particularly the attribution of gender-roles to the sperm and the egg.
Martin emphasizes that the gender roles and attributes that are assigned to the sperm and egg in
science textbooks are stereotypical with the sperm being portrayed as aggressive and the egg
being portrayed as passive. Martin suggests that these images of the egg and the sperm paint
males as being superior to females, which suggests that these images serve as a form of
reinforcement for male centeredness and male dominance.
Martin’s analysis of science textbooks supports the conclusion that children are exposed to
gender stereotypes on a daily basis. The articles reviewed in this section illustrate that children are
learning to anthropomorphize inanimate objects and because of the absence of sex, gender
stereotypes are often used to create the perception of gender for nonhuman entities. As a result, it
is important to understand the gender representations that are appearing in children’s media.
Gender Representation in Children’s Media
Anthropomorphism might rely on gender stereotypes to create a more believable persona
for inanimate objects, but these gender norms are supported in other areas as well. Television,
books, and film are almost always involved in the socialization of children in today’s society.
Research concerning gender representation in children’s media has found that films are indeed
agents of socialization, males were and still are the central figures in children’s media, and that
even though the presence of female roles have increased, these roles are consistent with
stereotypes associated with femininity. This section will also address Disney’s role in the
socialization of children and the themes that are present in Disney films with findings showing
that Disney’s characterizations of males and females often follow gender stereotypes.
Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo and Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo make the argument that animated
films act as “agents of socialization” and provide children with the “tools to reinforce expectations
about normalized racial and sexual dynamics” (166). They analyze the films The Road to El
Dorado, Shark Tale, Dinosaur, and Toy Story to illustrate the messages that are being
communicated to the children that are watching these movies. For example, in the movie Shark
Tale, Oscar tries to teach Sykes a complex shake using his fin. With Sykes unable to learn the
shake, Oscar simply says that most white fish are unable to learn it, suggesting that Oscar
identifies as something other than white. As another example, Woody’s fight for Little Bo Peep in
Toy Story is an example of the sexual dynamics learned through animated films with children
learning that the reliable male is the best option for the female. After viewing these films, LugoLugo and Bloodsworth-Lugo make the argument that animated films act as a teacher of race and
sexuality for children.
As evident by Lugo-Lugo and Bloodsworth-Lugo’s study, children learn a significant
amount about gender norms from media, including that our society centers on males. The
presence of males and females in children’s media is one indication of male centeredness.
Elizabeth Grauerholz and Bernice A. Pescosolido look at trends in the presence and centrality of
males and females in American children’s picture books of the twentieth century finding that
males outnumbered females in both titles and central characters. The earlier and later periods
analyzed during the course of the study showed more equal representations of females in titles and
central roles. Grauerholz and Pescosolido hypothesize that this could be a result of the actual
number of books that featured male or female central characters in the earlier periods.
Focusing primarily on the twenty-first century, Angela Gooden and Mark Gooden make
the argument that illustrated books are prominent sources for learning and developing gender.
Gooden and Gooden look at eighty-three Notable Books for Children from 1995-1999 to analyze
these books for gender of main character, illustrations, and title. Gooden and Gooden find that
steps toward equity have advanced based on the increase in females represented as the main
character. Although females are represented more, gender stereotypes are still highly present in
children’s books, which suggest that children are still being exposed to gender stereotypes even as
a move towards equality is being made.
The advertising aired during children’s television viewing times often acts as a
communicator of gender stereotypes. Adrian Furnham, Staci Abramsky, and Barrie Gunter look at
two sets of television advertisements that were recorded from weekend children’s television.
Furnham, Abramsky, and Gunter look at nine criteria that include gender of the people appearing,
gender of central character, and any voice-overs in the commercial. They find that males appear
more frequently in commercials, provide more voice-overs for commercials than females, and
generally occupy more central and authoritative positions.
With children learning gendered expectations of society from media, it is imperative that
we not only understand and pay attention to the frequency of the appearance of males and females
but the images that are being portrayed in children’s media as well. Kaysaee Baker and Arthur A.
Raney look at whether superheroes are portrayed in gender stereotypical ways. Baker and Raney
see few instances of traditional gender-role stereotyping; however, there is a trend toward defining
superheroes in traditionally masculine terms. Baker and Raney find that males are more likely to
be the leader of groups and less likely to have a mentor in the cartoon. From this we learn that
although a move has been made towards showing both females and males in strong and powerful
roles, it seems that traditional feminine traits that are not associated with power in order to balance
the portrayal as strong and powerful, thus some gender stereotypes are still present.
Females may be present in more powerful roles when it comes to superheroes, but
cartoons do not show this shift. Cartoons have been a long time favorite among viewing choices
of children. Teresa L. Thompson and Eugenia Zerbinos found that both male and female
characters were portrayed stereotypically in many cartoons. Males were given more prominence,
appeared more frequently, and talked significantly more than female characters. Although it was
found that males and females are still being portrayed in stereotypical ways, it was also found that
there has been a shift to less stereotypical portrayals, especially regarding female characters.
Disney has been responsible for a great deal of the media that is used by parents to
entertain their children and, as a result, contributes to the socialization of these children. Disney
has long been criticized for their portrayals of females in their films. Arguments have been made
that Disney often places their female characters in stereotypical roles. Naomi Wood addresses the
appearance of this norm in Walt Disney’s popular fairytale Cinderella through images of
domesticity and objectification. Wood illustrates the emergence of objectification in Cinderella by
discussing the framing of Cinderella in a way that focuses on her legs and feet as she walks into
the ball. Wood also argues that while the theme of the story is that dreams really do come true,
these dreams are domestic dreams: “She waits on her step family hand and foot, . . . cleans
everything beautifully, and still has time to sing and dream” (36). Cinderella may have her
dreams, but those dreams are grounded in her sense of domestic obligations.
Cinderella is not the only Disney film that has been criticized for the way the female
gender is portrayed. Laura Sells focuses on the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. Sells argues
that The Little Mermaid incorporates the stereotype of women as subservient. Sells admits that
“the film is a problematic text for a feminist resistant reading, because it teaches us that we can
achieve access and mobility in the white male system if we remain silent, and if we sacrifice our
connection to ‘the feminine’” (181). To support this argument, Sells uses the scene in which
Ursula convinces Ariel to give up her voice to show that although Ariel is an independent woman
and wants to succeed on her own, she must be willing to sacrifice her voice and remain silent to
have access to the life she wants.
Although claims that Disney stereotypes females, arguments have been made that Disney
has started to stray away from these stereotypes. Ken Gillam and ShannonWooden focus on how
Disney/Pixar have started to stray away from the stereotypical female leads and traditional
representations of gender. Gillam and Wooden use Cars, Toy Story, and The Incredibles to
illustrate this. For example, although the male leads of the movies are at first portrayed as the
stoic male who appears to be lacking in emotion, by the end of the movies the males learn how to
be more caring towards and reliant on others. In the movie Cars, Lightning McQueen goes from
being selfish and caught up in winning to showing a more caring side when he sacrifices the race
in order to ensure that the wrecked King finishes his last race. This supports the idea that
Disney/Pixar has made progress in their portrayals of male characters so that males are portrayed
in less traditional terms. Gilliam and Wooden argue that it is good for male children to “be aware
of the many sides of human existence, regardless of traditional gender stereotypes” (7). Gilliam
and Wooden may emphasize how male children can benefit from the exposure to all sides of
human existence and not just the normal gender identities, but all children could benefit to the
exposure of gender roles that are not necessarily considered traditional.
As we can see, television, books, and film are indeed apart of the socialization of children.
As a result, it is important to understand what images of gender are being portrayed in children’s
media. Previous research has found that even though the presence of female roles has increased,
these roles are consistent with stereotypes associated with femininity and males are still
consistently the central figures in children’s media.
Media Effects
It is important to understand the portrayal of gender because through these depictions of
gender stereotypes children are taught what acceptable masculine and feminine behaviors are and
what is expected of them in regards to their sex. Previous research regarding gender and media
effects shows that certain programming containing stereotypes influences the way children
perceive the people around them. For example, children gain a more positive view of people from
different backgrounds after viewing programs featuring these ethnicities in a positive light. can
often effect what children perceive as appropriate jobs for each gender, such as males being
perceived as being better suited for professions such as mechanics.
A study conducted by Diana M. Zuckerman, Dorothy G. Singer, and Jerome L. Singer
assesses 155 third, fourth, and fifth grade children in terms of their racial, sex-role attitudes and
family’s television view habits, and demographic background. Zuckerman, Singer, and Singer
find that children’s and parents’ viewing of specific types of programming can predict children’s
racial prejudices and girls’ sex prejudice. For example, viewing programs that featured black
characters helps to predict more positive views of black children. Certain programming containing
stereotypes can in fact influence the way children perceive the people around them and the
expectations that they have for those people.
In response to their findings, as discussed above, about the ways in which females and
males are portrayed in cartoons, Thompson and Zerbinos continue their investigation by
interviewing 89 children from four to nine years old to assess their perceived presentations of
male and female characters in cartoons. The children perceive most cartoon characters in
stereotypical ways with males being thought of as more violent and active and females being
domestic and concerned with appearance. Thompson and Zerbino also find that there is a
relationship between noticing gender-stereotypic behaviors in cartoon characters and then
reporting more traditional job expectations for their gender. For example, boys frequently choose
occupations such a fire-fighter or police officer and girls select occupations such as nurse and
teacher.
Evident by Thompson and Zerbino findings, gender stereotypes can often affect what
children perceive as appropriate jobs for each gender. Sue Jackson investigates this idea further.
Jackson questions young children about illustrations depicting women and men’s work in two
early school readers. Jackson finds that children have a variety of different meanings about gender
and work in both the illustrations and children’s perceptions. In some cases, women would be
assigned agency and equality while other cases place them in a gender hierarchy below men. For
example, one of the children had no problem identifying a woman as a mechanic in one of the
readers, but showed hesitation in answering whether she would be able to fix a car. This shows
that there has been an increased understanding by children that females can do the same jobs that
males can do, but there are some gender stereotypes that are still present.
While children are developing an increased understanding that females can succeed in the
same professions as males, Jocelyn Steinke and colleagues believe that mass media portrayals of
males and females impact the way that children perceive women in the fields of science,
engineering and technology. To assess this hypothesis, Steinke and colleagues conduct a Draw-AScientist test. Prior to being asked to draw a scientist, participants are either assigned to a control
group, a discussion only group, and a discussion plus viewing of television and film clips
featuring women. Boys are more likely to draw male scientists and to include other stereotypes of
scientists, such as lab coats and glasses. The main resources that were listed as sources for the
information were media related. Steinke and colleagues’ findings did not differ between the three
groups.
Ronald S. Drabman and associates look at the immediate impact on preschool and
elementary school children of a televised presentation in which the traditional sex roles of
physician and nurse were reversed. Drabman finds that preschool, first-grade, and fourth-grade
students select male names or pictures for the physician and female names or pictures for the
nurse even if the male was depicted as the nurse and the female as the physician. This shows that
children do retain gender stereotypes that they encounter and apply them to their everyday lives.
This is not the only example of research that shows children are impacted by the gender
stereotypes that they encounter in the media. Kevin Durkin and Bradley Nugent look at the
predictions made by four and five year old children in response to the sex of persons that would
carry out a variety of common activities and occupations on television. The children’s answers
show strong gender stereotyped expectations and that with age children were more likely to have
stereotyped judgments about men and women’s abilities to perform certain activities. These
finding suggest that the more children are exposed to the gender stereotypes found in the media,
the more likely they are to retain and uses the gender stereotypes as they grow older.
Television, books, and film are almost always involved in the socialization of children in
today’s society. Research concerning gender representation in children’s media has found that
films are indeed agents of socialization, males were and still are the central figures in children’s
media, and that even though the presence of female roles have increased, these roles are consistent
with stereotypes associated with femininity. It has also been found that certain programming
containing stereotypes influence the way children perceive the people around them and gender
stereotypes can often affect what children perceive as appropriate jobs for each gender.
Children are exposed to gender stereotypes on daily basis, even when they are in the
classroom, so it is important to understand what types of media they are being exposed to and the
content of that media. WALL-E shows Disney/Pixar’s willingness to create a movie that stars two
robots that clearly are gendered yet are completely absent of sex. As a result, I want to look at
how Disney/Pixar portrays gender roles for the two robots in WALL-E. First I will looking at how
Disney/Pixar anthropomorphizes and assigns gender to WALL-E and EVE in the movie WALLE and then I will be looking at whether or not Disney/Pixar’s representations follow the
stereotypical representations of male dominance or if they challenge this stereotype.
Chapter 2: Method
WALL-E became a particular interest to me because Disney/Pixar manage to create gender
for two robots who are absent of sex. This brings me to my research questions. First, in what
ways do Disney/ Pixar anthropomorphize and create gender for WALL-E and EVE, the two main
robots featured in the movie? Second, do Disney/Pixar’s representations of masculinity and
femininity follow the stereotypical representations of male dominance and the marginalization of
women, or do these representations challenge this stereotype? In order to explore these questions,
I will conduct a feminist criticism of WALL-E. Donna Nudd and Kristina Schriver characterize
feminist criticism as the use of rhetorical criticism to apply a “feminist lens” to analysis of a text,
particularly mediated forms of communication, such as film, because of their ability to spread
messages, including messages pertaining to gender, rapidly (276). Similarly, Sonja K. Foss
defines feminist criticism as an analysis of rhetoric in order to ascertain the ways in which
rhetorical production of gender is used as a means for creating and sustaining domination. Foss
also argues that this that process can be challenged in a way that allows people be aware of their
capacity to perform in the world in the way they choose
As a result of there being multiple outlines for conducting feminist criticism, rhetorical
critics often conduct feminist criticism in different ways. Although there are numerous approaches
to feminist criticism, two key themes can be identified as being of interest to feminist critics. The
first area of interest is the creation of gender. In order for a character to be identified as masculine
or feminine, gender must be created and established. The second area focuses on the hegemonic
nature of masculinity and how this creates a sense of male centeredness and can result in male
domination. Masculinity seems to be the norm in today’s society and is repeatedly able to find a
way back to being the norm no matter how often it is challenged. Feminist critics argue that this
male centeredness and domination is part of the reason that females are often pictured as
marginalized and dominated by males and femininity is often considered non-normative.
Foss argues that masculinity and femininity are constructed in ways that depict what is
considered normal, desirable, and appropriate behaviors for males and females. Janice Hocker
Rushing discusses society’s obsession with objectifying women who have made their living by
being in the media spotlight. In particular, she focuses on Princess Diana. Rushing brings up the
concept of the cinematic gaze, which is the belief that men enjoying looking at women and
women enjoy watching themselves being watched. Rushing then relates this concept to the
obsession in clothing and appearances that seems to develop in females, particularly those who are
featured on screen. This suggests that women are expected to be the object of men’s desires and
therefore should be concerned about their appearances, thus creating this expectation of the
feminine gender identity. The foundation of Rushing’s article is rooted in the creation and
portrayal of gender because, as a society, we have created expectations for masculinity and
femininity that are expected to be portrayed in our celebrities.
The way that society chooses to define and construct masculinity and femininity allows
masculinity to remain the norm of society and also allow masculinity to continue to find its way
back to the center no matter how often marginalized groups challenge it. Bonnie J. Dow focuses
on the hegemonic nature of masculinity in her analysis of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Dow
defines hegemony as, “the various means through which those who support the dominant ideology
in a culture are able continually to reproduce that ideology in cultural institutions and products
while gaining the tacit approval of those whom the ideology oppresses” (262). Dow focuses on
several different hegemonic devices used to contradict the feminist front that The Mary Tyler
Moore Show has. In particular, Dow argues that even though The Mary Tyler Moore Show puts up
a feminist friendly front by featuring a female lead who appears to be a strong, independent
woman, this front is contradicted by the way her relationships and roles are defined.
One particular relationship that Dow looks at is that of Mary Richards and Lou Grant.
Dow argues that although Mary may appear to be the independent working woman, her
relationship with Lou undermines this belief. Mary is constantly seeking out Lou for advice and
hoping to gain his approval. Dow argues that because of this, Mary’s relationship with Lou is
more of a father/daughter relationship rather and an employee/boss relationship. This relationship
illustrates that even though Mary is supporting herself, Lou still has some control of her life. She
allows him to guide her decisions instead of making the decisions on her own, which supports
male dominance and allows masculinity to once again become the norm.
Similar to Dow, Derek Buescher and Kent Ono illustrate that Disney’s Pocahontas, a story
about a Native American tribe’s encounter with some of the first settlers, incorporates images and
portrayals of gender that results in male domination being reinforced. For example, Kocoum
instructs Pocahontas to stay near the village and cease her walks outside the village and,
ultimately, his control. By forbidding Pocahontas to continue her walks, Kocoum illustrates the
same kind of paternal control over Pocahontas that Lou shows toward Mary. Once again,
masculinity is established as the norm and the authority.
Male centeredness and dominance often results in females being marginalized and
silenced. Ann Johnson addresses this issue using The Man Show as the subject of her criticism.
Johnson’s main focus is the sexism that appears in the show, emphasizing the marginalization of
women. One issue that Johnson uses to illustrate this marginalization is trivialization of women’s
efforts to improve their status and to voice their opinions. These efforts are often ignored or
downplayed. The Man Show even uses these efforts as the subject of the jokes and sketches that
appear throughout the show. For example, Oprah has been the center of several sketches on the
Man Show. In one sketch that Johnson discusses, Oprah is accused of brainwashing American
women, suggesting that women with power are a threat.
I chose to analyze WALL-E using a feminist criticism because the questions that I found
myself asking after viewing the trailers and advertisements for this movie are the same questions
that previous feminist critics have asked regarding the creation and portrayal of gender. WALL-E
is an animated film that was produced by Pixar. The film focuses on the adventures of two robots,
WALL-E and EVE. Even in the advertisements for this movie, it is clear that WALL-E is meant
to be perceived as a male robot and EVE is meant to be perceived as a female robot. This is where
WALL-E establishes itself as a great subject for a feminist criticism. In order for Pixar to establish
that WALL-E is male and EVE is female, gender must be created for both due to the fact that
robots are absent of sex.
For the purposes of my analysis, the first step that I will be taking will be to analyze how
the writers of WALL-E construct the masculinity and femininity of the two robots that are featured
in the movie. I will be looking at what Pixar portrays as normal and acceptable behaviors for each
gender represented by the robots WALL-e and EVE. Specifically I will be looking at the
behaviors exhibited by both robots and then determine if these behaviors are reinforced or
punished in a way that leads the robot to believe that the behavior is either acceptable or not. I will
also be looking at the mannerisms and appearances that Pixar has assigned to both robots. I will
be dividing these areas into four divisions; physical appearance, mannerisms, voice and language,
and job and task assignments.
Male centeredness is often represented in media by the number of roles that feature males
in positions of authority. This is where my second area of interest regarding Disney/Pixar’s
representation of male dominance generates from. After analyzing how Disney/Pixar depicts
masculinity and femininity, I will analyze Disney/Pixar’s depiction of masculinity and femininity
in terms of the idea of male dominance as stereotypical. I will specifically be looking at the extent
Disney/Pixar supports the stereotype of male domination or if Disney/Pixar challenges this
stereotype and offers a different narrative.
Chapter 3: Gender in WALL-E
WALL-E (2008) is an animated film produced by Disney/Pixar that centers on the
adventures of two robots, WALL-E and EVE. By 2805 A.D., products from the powerful multinational Buy N Large Corporation cover Earth, and WALL-E cleans up the mess. EVE, a
reconnaissance robot, arrives on Earth to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E
rescues EVE from a dust storm and shows her a living plant he found amongst the rubble.
Consistent with her programming, EVE takes the plant and automatically enters a deactivated
state except for a blinking green light. One day a ship comes to reclaim EVE, but WALL-E
hitches a ride on the outside of the ship to rescue EVE.
The ship arrives back at a large space cruise ship, which is carrying all of the humans who
evacuated Earth centuries earlier. The auto-pilot prevents EVE from presenting to the captin the
plant from Earth by stealing the plant. WALL-E, Eve, and the captain rebel against the auto-pilot
and save the space resort, allowing the space resort and humans to return to Earth and rebuild.
WALL-E is damaged in his attempt to help during the revolt, and EVE becomes desperate to
repair him when they return to Earth. EVE rushes to WALL-E’s stores of extra parts to repair him.
EVE then sparks his memory with an awkward “kiss,” or a peck where lips would be on humans.
Creating Gender for WALL-E and EVE
Throughout WALL-E, Disney/Pixar is constantly creating a definition of femininity and
masculinity. The way that society chooses to define and construct masculinity and femininity
allows masculinity to remain the norm of society and also allows masculinity to continue to find
its way back to the center no matter how often marginalized groups challenge it. As a result, I will
begin my analysis with looking at the ways that Disney/Pixar constructs gender for WALL-E and
EVE in order to better understand the extent that this creation supports male centeredness and
dominance. Disney/Pixar creates and establishes gender for WALL-E and EVE in four primary
ways: physical appearance, voice and language, mannerisms, and jobs/tasks. I chose these
categories because each category contributes to the image of masculinity and femininity that
Disney/Pixar wants to project through the characters of WALL-E and EVE.
Physical Appearance
The physical appearance of WALL-E and EVE is a significant contributor to the creation
of WALL-E and EVE’s gender identities during the course of the movie. Physical appearance is
important in creating gender identity for both WALL-E and EVE because the first thing the
audience is exposed to are the physical features of each robot. The audience has the ability to see
what WALL-E and EVE look like even before viewing the movie due to the packaging of the
video, which features stills of scenes from the movie, and trailers featured on television and in
theaters. This exposure to images from the movie gives the audience a chance to form knowledge
of the characters based on physical appearance. The physical appearances of WALL-E and EVE
are Disney/Pixar’s first opportunity to start creating and portraying gender for WALL-E and EVE.
The first robot that the audience encounters when viewing the movie is WALL-E. WALLE is noticeably disproportionate and not taken care of, suggesting a masculine gender. Susan
Bordo discusses that in the media, a male’s body is not anatomized or objectified to the extent that
female bodies are. This can be seen in Disney/Pixar’s depiction of masculinity through WALL-E.
For example, WALL-E’s hands are very chunky, which seems to make it difficult for WALL-E to
grasp smaller objects. WALL-E’s eyes are square and rather large and seem to be set a distance
apart because of their size. WALL-E moves around on wheels that appear to be large in
comparison to the rest of his body. WALL-E’s body itself is very square and very sizable with a
compartment that he uses to store items to transport them when he is not using this compartment
to compact trash. Overall, WALL-E’s features do not make him as pleasing to look at as EVE.
These features enhance WALL-E’s masculinity because it enforces Bordo’s idea that males are
not objectified in the ways that women are.
Bordo also discusses how males are depicted as focusing on things other than their
physical appearance and are not concerned with how they look. WALL-E exemplifies this trait
because the most noticeable attribute of WALL-E is the rust and dirt that has accumulated over
the years that he has been on Earth. When on the space resort, WALL-E even leaves behind him a
trail of dirt and grime that is labeled as a foreign substance to the custodian robot. WALL-E’s
physical features help to establish WALL-E as the male of the two robots, or at least the more
masculine of the two.
Disney/Pixar establishes EVE as a complete opposite to WALL-E, reinforcing her
feminine gender. EVE’s features establish her as more atheistically pleasing than WALL-E and
she appears to be better maintained. According to Rosalind Gill, representations of women in
today’s media focus on women being eye candy or desiring sexual objects. In describing
advertisements, particularly for lingerie, that have appeared in the media, Gill often describes the
female being slim and curvaceous. It is easy to conclude that these images have contributed to
women’s obsession with weight and body image, which has lead to women being more concerned
about their body image than men.
When constructing EVE’s feminine gender, Disney/Pixar relies on similar gender
stereotypes. For, example, when EVE first emerges from her transport ship, her gleaming white
body is in direct contrast to the rusty and dirty body of WALL-E. EVE obviously gets taken care
of, and it is clear that it is important that she is properly maintained, supporting the notion that
females should be concerned with their appearance. This becomes even clearer when EVE returns
back to space resort. Upon returning to the space resort, there is a scene in which it is thought that
EVE has been damaged and is not working properly. EVE is then rushed to diagnostics where she
is examined. EVE gets cleaned and polished as diagnostics are run. Unlike WALL-E’s box-like
body, EVE is much curvier and is made of very few straight lines. EVE’s body also appears more
in proportion compared to WALL-E’s. Her eyes are also smaller and set much closer together.
EVE’s physical features help to establish her as female.
In terms of physical appearance, Disney/Pixar constructs gender in a way that suggests
women are expected to be well groomed and are expected to take care of themselves while it is
much more acceptable for males to be less rigid in their grooming habits. EVE is a perfect
example of this because her body is gleaming white and she is rushed to diagnostics to moment
that it is believed she is damaged. WALL- E, on the other hand, is left rusty and dirty throughout
the entire movie. A curvy body is considered aesthetically pleasing on a female, but is not
encouraged for males. This norm manifests itself in the movie as a result of WALL-E being
portrayed as having a box-like figure while EVE does not have many straight lines and the lower
part of her body is almost oval shaped. The use of these physical features by Disney/Pixar in
creating WALL-E and EVE makes it easier for the viewing audience to identify WALL-E as
masculine and EVE as feminine.
Mannerisms/Behaviors
Physical appearances are not the only way Disney/Pixar creates gender for WALL-E and
EVE. Neither robot has been designed with a mouth nor programmed with a large vocabulary
base. Because of this, mannerisms become important in creating gender for WALL-E and EVE
because they primarily communicate through body language, which they use to communicate with
not only each other but the remaining characters in the film as well.
Throughout the film EVE, often correcting WALL-E’s deviant behaviors, acts in a
motherly fashion toward WALL-E. This helps to depict WALL-E as childlike and places EVE in
a nurturing role. These traits are stereotypical. Julia T. Wood argues that women are more likely
to be involved in caring for others, suggesting that females are more nurturing than males, which
we can see in WALL-E. In addition to being nurturing, females are more likely than men to
address feelings (Kunkel and Burleson). In contrast, males are often portrayed as engaging in
behaviors that are considered active, such as chasing girls and engaging in deviant behaviors
(Thompson and Zerbinos).
It is easy to see that WALL-E’s mannerisms have a childlike quality to them. For example,
WALL-E has a very curious nature and is constantly gathering items to add to his collection. He
even carries a lunch box with him to store the items as he is sifting through the rubble. WALL-E’s
childlike nature also shows in his excitement to share his trinkets with EVE after taking her to his
home. WALL-E’s curiosity often gets him into trouble and causes him to engage in deviant
behavior throughout the movie. For example, once he reaches the space resort WALL-E manages
to set loose several broken robots. The audience first gets to see EVE in a motherly role when she
scolds WALL-E like a mother scolding a child after WALL-E frees the broken robots. Not only
does EVE scold WALL-E like a mother would, she tries to protect him by forcing him into a ship
to send him back to Earth before he can be caught.
Adrianne W. Kunkel and Brant R. Burleson argue that women are more likely than men to
address feelings. At first it appears that roles are reversed, with WALL-E being the first to express
his emotions to EVE and EVE appearing to be cold and emotionless. For example, WALL-E
expresses his emotions when he holds EVE’s hand while she is in her deactivated state, working
to protect her during the first storm, and racing after her when she is retrieved. WALL-E also
moves in close to EVE when he is near her. EVE at first, however, has trouble expressing her
emotion and is portrayed as being cold and almost emotionless, even aiming her vaporizing gun at
WALL-E when she first sees him. Considering that displays of emotions are traditionally
feminine, Disney/Pixar creates WALL-E in a way that portrays him as childlike. As a result,
WALL-E is able to get away with expressing his emotions because he is portrayed in a childlike
manner, which allows Disney/Pixar to place EVE in a nurturing role, thus establishing her
feminine gender further.
While the portrayal of WALL-E as childlike and EVE as mothering works in the
beginning, roles shift throughout the movies. By the end of the movie EVE begins to express her
emotions for WALL-E, suggesting a switch to the stereotypical idea that women are more likely
to discuss and express emotions. This is evident when EVE becomes desperate to repair WALL-E
when they arrive back on Earth, rushing to his home in order to find the parts that she needs to fix
the damage that WALL-E has suffered. When EVE realizes that WALL-E has no memory of her,
she tries everything to spark his memory. She holds his hand, continuously says her name, and
even plays the video that WALL-E was so fond of. In the end, it is EVE’s “kiss” that sparks
WALL-E’s memory at the conclusion of the movie.
Job Assignments
Disney/Pixar uses the assignment of jobs as another way to create gender for WALL-E
and EVE. This works because our culture has created stereotypes for which jobs and tasks are
appropriate for males and females. Drabman and associates support this idea in their findings that
young children have difficulty recalling the name or picture of a male nurse and female physican.
WALL-E’s job as a trash compacting robot is depicted as physically demanding, often
leading to injuries and leaving WALL-E dirty. This is consistent with the stereotype that males are
more likely to engage in tasks that are more physically demanding. Jackson supports this
stereotype when she finds that young children place males in job positions that involve physical
labor, such as a mechanic, and females in job positions such as answering the phone.
Disney/Pixar illustrates just how physically demanding WALL-E’s job can be by showing
him collecting parts from damaged WALL-Es that are not longer in commission. This suggests
that WALL-E will eventually need to replace parts as he continues his job. His job is not only
physically demanding but also a dirty one. In one scene the audience gets sees a sign that says
“Working to Dig You Out,” and later in the movie, WALL-E leaves behind a dirt trail on the
space resort.
In contrast, EVE’s programming instructs her to do reconnaissance work on Earth in order
to determine if life is once again sustainable on Earth. Jackson’s study shows that our culture
typically places females in jobs that require little physical labor. EVE depicts this stereotype. Her
job may require her to travel across Earth to look for plant life amongst the rubble, but her
technology makes her job seem effortless. Traveling is even made easier for EVE because she is
able to hover above the surface and does not have to contend with the buildup of trash as she is
traveling across the Earth. EVE’s job suggests femininity because her creators have ensured that
her job is effortless and will take little time, unlike WALL-E’s job that has been going on for
centuries. Because EVE’s job requires very little physical labor, her job is obviously does not
require her to get dirty, evident by the fact that she is gleaming white with no visible dirt on her
throughout much of the movie. Placing EVE in a job that require little physical labor and does not
require her to get dirty allows Disney/Pixar to establish EVE as feminine.
Males are also expected to be able to handle doing a job without much supervision. Baker
and Raney supported the presence of this stereotype when finding that male superhero characters
are more likely to be the leader of groups and less likely to have a mentor in the cartoon while
female superhero characters are almost always assigned a mentor. WALL-E, who has been left
alone on Earth for centuries, is a good example of this expectation. EVE, on the other hand, must
be monitored by others and cannot be left to monitor herself. Even though EVE’s creators place
her on Earth alone, they are able to monitor her from a distance, which becomes clear when she is
placed in a deactivated state and later reclaimed instead of allowing her to return on her own. The
fact that EVE is rushed diagnostics and her technology is assumed to be flawed upon the
disappearance of the plant that she has acquired while on Earth also suggests that her creators feel
that she cannot be trusted. This lack of independence for EVE fits the stereotypical female
portrayal.
Our culture has succeeded in creating stereotypes regarding what jobs and tasks are
appropriate for males and females to engage in. Males are expected to have the more physically
demanding jobs that often result in injuries and require them to get dirty. It is often considered
unattractive for females to have these types of jobs. Males are also expected to be able to handle
doing a job without much supervision, while females need to have supervision to ensure that their
job is done properly. Given these stereotypes, the conclusion can be made that WALL-E and
EVE’s jobs are consistent with the stereotypes found in typical male and female job assignments.
Language and Verbal Attributes
As stated earlier, physical attributes, such as physical appearance, mannerisms, and job
assignments become the most dominant ways that Disney/Pixar creates gender for WALL-E and
EVE because they use very little verbal communication. However, Disney/Pixar does rely on
some verbal cues to create gender for WALL-E and EVE.
Typically, a male’s voice is characterized by a deeper and lower pitch than a female’s
voice. Disney/Pixar uses this tactic in defining WALL-E as masculine and EVE as feminine.
Although WALL-E, voiced by actor Ben Burtt, has a voice that is higher than normally seen in
males, his voice appears to be lower in pitch than EVE’s, voiced by Elissa Knight. While these
characteristics are not the dominant factor in creating gender for WALL-E and EVE, they do help
to depict WALL-E as masculine and EVE as feminine.
Foss argues that masculinity and femininity are constructed in ways that depicts what is
considered normal, desirable, and appropriate behaviors for males and females. Through this
analysis we see that Disney/Pixar creates and establishes gender for WALL-E and EVE in four
primary ways: physical appearance, voice and language, mannerisms, and jobs/tasks. Through
their creation of masculinity and femininity, Disney/Pixar constructs gender in a way that suggests
women are expected to be well groomed and are expected to take care of themselves while it is
much more acceptable for males to be less rigid in their grooming habits. According to
Disney/Pixar’s creation of femininity, women are more likely to be involved in caring for others
while men are expected to be self reliant and able to survive on their own with no help from
others.
Male Dominance and Female Marginalization in WALL-E
The way that society chooses to define and construct masculinity and femininity allows
masculinity to remain the norm of society and also allows masculinity to continue to find its way
back to the center no matter how often marginalized groups challenge it. As a result, I want to
look at Disney/Pixar’s representation of male dominance. I will specifically look at the ways in
which Disney/Pixar construction of gender supports the stereotype of male centeredness, male
domination, and the ways in which Disney/Pixar challenges this stereotype and offers a different
viewpoint.
While analyzing WALL-E it becomes clear that Disney/Pixar tries to challenge the typical
role of man as dominant in several different ways. The first way in which Disney/Pixar challenges
this stereotype is by placing EVE in a position of authority. Disney/Pixar achieves this by placing
EVE has a higher level job than WALL-E. When EVE exits the space ship, the audience can
immediately tell that she has been maintained and cared for better than WALL-E. This signals that
EVE’s job of collecting information from Earth is more important than WALL-E’s job of
compacting trash. Elizabeth Aries argues is typically males are found in positions of leadership in
mixed-sex groups. So, placing EVE at a higher job level challenges male dominance because she
is now the one who is placed in a position of leadership.
Disney/Pixar challenges male domination again by allowing EVE to have dominance and
control over WALL-E and his actions. Power and control emerges when EVE’s technology is
showcased. For example, WALL-E fears EVE when he first actually meets her because EVE is
equipped with weaponry to protect herself while WALL-E is almost defenseless. While the sight
of this weaponry does not frighten WALL-E at first glance, as evident by WALL-E’s appearance
of fascination in the weaponry, fear quickly develops when EVE attempts to use it on him, thus
creating power for EVE. WALL-E’s actions are also controlled by EVE in the beginning of the
movie. For example, once WALL-E and EVE make it make to the space resort, EVE is the one
that has to get WALL-E out of trouble. WALL-E isn’t even given a choice about leaving the
space resort. He is forced to leave when EVE takes him by the hand and leads him through the
space resort to the transport ship that will send WALL-E back to Earth. EVE once again saves
WALL-E when he accidentally sets the transport ship to self-destruct. While Disney/Pixar makes
an effort to challenge male domination by allowing EVE to hold a more powerful job than WALLE and giving EVE some control over WALL-E, there are still parts of the movie that reinforce the
stereotype of male domination and once again place masculinity at the center.
One common theme used to reinforce male dominance involves casting the male in the
role of savior and the female is cast in the role of heroine. Laurie P. Arliss argues that children
become familiar with the theme of young maidens finding themselves being rescued by strong
capable men. Disney/Pixar first reinforces male domination by incorporating this theme into the
movie when they place WALL-E into the role of protector. WALL-E is first cast into the role of
protector when he rescues EVE from a storm and when he watches over EVE while she is in her
deactivated state. In another scene, WALL-E grabs onto the space ship that comes to take EVE
back and continues to hold onto it while it is racing through space because he feels so protective
of her and wishes to free her from the ship. While on the space station, WALL-E, in a misguided
attempt, once again “rescues” EVE from what he believes is torture. WALL-E causes mayhem in
order to get EVE out of the diagnostics lab, showing that he will do anything to make sure that
EVE is safe, even if that means getting the both of them put on the most wanted list aboard the
space resort. Placing WALL-E in the role of protector competes with the child-like mannerisms
WALL-E displays suggesting that even at a young age males are taught to protect females.
At first it may appear that EVE challenges the stereotype of male dominance because she
seems to have more authority and power than WALL-E, but toward the end of the movie, the male
is once again placed in a position of power. For example, although EVE’s programming
recognizes the importance of the plant that is recovered on Earth, while WALL-E’s does not, it is
WALL-E who finds the plant after it has been stolen and it is WALL-E who finally presents the
plant to the captain of the space resort. The plant is a huge finding for the space station. Now that
Earth has been proven sustainable once again, the humans are able to return. When the plant is
once again put in danger, WALL-E not only protects EVE, but the human race as a whole when
he sacrifices himself in order to stop the autopilot from destroying the plant and taking over the
space station.
Disney/Pixar does try to challenge male dominance by creating a strong female lead who
is able to gain control and establish authority at first. These same traits, however, illustrate the
hegemonic nature of masculinity because the traits of power and authority are often considered
masculine. In other words, in order for EVE to challenge male dominance, she must embody
masculine traits, such as appearing cold and distant, in an overstated manner in order to
compensate for her feminine gender.
Despite trying to challenge the hegemonic nature of masculinity and the resulting male
dominance, WALL-E clearly illustrates that constructing masculinity and femininity in
stereotypical ways allows masculinity to remain the norm of society. These stereotypical
portrayals also allow masculinity to continue to find its way back to the center no matter how
often marginalized groups challenge this norm. WALL-E manages to do this by creating WALL-E
as the protector and savior of the movie instead of EVE.
Chapter 4: Conclusion
WALL-E illustrates how anthropomorphism can be used to create gender for inanimate
objects that should not be able to portray gender due to the absence of sex. The means by which
Disney/Pixar creates and establishes gender for WALL-E and EVE fall into four primary
categories. Those four primary categories include: physical appearance, voice and language,
mannerisms, and jobs/tasks. This assigning of gender to gender-neutral objects illustrates
society’s need to assign gender to everything. While anthropomorphic speech can aid in children’s
learning, it can also be problematic. Gender stereotypes are often used to create the perception of
gender for nonhuman entities.
This trend presents itself in Disney/Pixar’s creation of gender for WALL-E and EVE.
Through their creation of masculinity and femininity, Disney/Pixar constructs gender in a way
that suggests women are expected to be well groomed and are expected to tend to their appearance
while it is much more acceptable for males to be less rigid in their grooming habits. According to
Disney/Pixar’s creation of gender, women are more likely to be involved in caring for others.
Men, on the other hand, are expected to be self reliant, to survive on their own with no help from
others, and to ultimately be the knight in shining armor at the end of the movie.
The way that society chooses to define and construct masculinity and femininity allows
masculinity to remain the norm of society and also allows masculinity to continue to find its way
back to the center no matter how often marginalized groups challenge it. We see this happen in
WALL-E with the character of EVE. Disney/Pixar first paints EVE as strong and authoritative.
However, this portrayal is troublesome in itself because in order to construct EVE as powerful and
authoritative, they rely on stereotypical masculine traits. Throughout the movie, we see EVE’s
character shift and soon her role depicts her as the stereotypical female who needs to be saved by
a strong male character.
These findings are important because television, books, and film are almost always
involved in the socialization of children in today’s society. Lugo-Lugo and Bloodsworth-Lugo
even make the argument that animated films act as a teacher of race and sexuality for children.
They then argue that these films act as “agents of socialization” and provide children with the
“tools to reinforce expectations about normalized racial and sexual dynamics” (166). This use of
media as a tool for socialization is a major reason why our society needs to understand the content
of the media that is created for children.
From the exposure to these forms of media, children often learn the norms of our society,
whether we recognize these norms or not. Often gender stereotypes find their way into the
portrayal of the characters that children encounter in the media. Children are exposed to these
gender stereotypes on a daily basis, even when they are in the classroom, and because of this, it
becomes even more important to understand what types of media they are being exposed to and
the content of that media. Through these portrayals of gender stereotypes, children are taught what
acceptable masculine and feminine behaviors are, and what is expected of them in regards to their
sex.
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